WE’VE been to Dortmund, Warsaw and Dublin, taking on the three countries trying to deny Scotland a place in next summer’s European Championships.

But Steven Naismith believes the next away day could be the toughest of the lot. Against a country which has no chance of qualifying.

The Scotland striker is eyeing September’s sortie to Tbilisi warily and that is no bad thing.

Just because Gordon Strachan’s men have performed well in Germany, Poland and Ireland does not mean they can regard Georgia as an easy three points.

Yet anything less than a win will seriously, perhaps fatally, harm our hopes of reaching France and Naismith is well aware of it.

Eight years ago, Alex McLeish’s Scotland travelled to the Georgian capital with high hopes of making Euro 2008, having defeated the mighty French home and away.

Yet we travelled home with hopes dashed by a 2-0 defeat.

A similar result on September 4 would be equally catastrophic but Naismith reckons this current Scotland squad has shown enough resilience so far in the campaign to suggest they can go anywhere and get the points needed.

Strachan’s men toiled in the first half and went in behind at the interval yet they dug deep to grind out a point that was far more useful to them than it was to the Irish.

But whatever happens in Tbilisi, the Everton frontman knows Scotland won’t be taking Georgia for granted.

Naismith said: “We have a strong mentality. In the game against Poland, towards the end we were under the cosh a bit but we stood strong and against Ireland it was the same at times. We have improved in that way.

“But Georgia will be a massive match and it is one we will not be taking lightly. Ireland were lucky to win there with a goal in the last minute so we know it is not going to be easy.

“In terms of this point, I have said all along if you win your home games and take a point when you are playing away, you’ve got a good chance.

“The Georgia game becomes the most important one because it’s the next one. The biggest thing is we won’t be taking them lightly.

“We beat them 1-0 at home but it was very comfortable. Away from home it will be a far different game.

“They’ll have the crowd behind them and we’ll definitely have to keep our eye on the ball in that game.

“As you get into the second half of the campaign, every qualifying match becomes so important.

Scotland's James McFadden on the full time whistle after losing to Georgia (Image: Andrew Milligan/PA)

“You don’t worry as much about the performance side of it and you just try to get the result.

“We know that but we will still try to play as we have done for the majority of the campaign.”

Naismith admitted he is delighted to have the two games against Ireland put to bed, with four points taken.

He feels the ferocious derby-like atmosphere made it impossible for either team to play the kind of football of which they are capable of.

Naisy said: “In terms of the two games against them, there has been a lot of build-up with the two countries being so close together and the two squads knowing each other so well.

“It became a derby-type atmosphere and in the two games we lost a lot of the quality that exists within both squads.

Scotland's Barry Ferguson and James McFadden are stunned by their shock defeat (Image: REUTERS/David Moir)

“The majority of players are playing in the English Premier League and playing for top teams, but you probably wouldn’t have guessed that on the showing from both sides in the two matches.

“That’s down to the whole atmosphere and build-up to it.

“Both teams gave 100 percent and there were a few challenges that were borderline and big calls.

“But the ref made his decisions and credit to us, when a few of our boys were caught late we just got up, dusted ourselves down and kept playing.

“We kept plugging away and got our reward with the goal.

“We didn’t fold or fall to bits, but one of the biggest negatives for us was the amount of crosses and corners we gave away.

“That is a big part of Ireland’s game, playing it so direct and on to their big men. We probably gave it away far too much in terms of corners. But again, we showed lots of character.

“We stayed tall and after losing the goal we probably won every header in the box.

“It’s definitely a point gained and with the head to heads maybe coming into it at the end of the campaign, we’ve got to be positive.

“We were disappointed at half-time to be one down and probably camped in our own half for most of the first half. In the second half we tweaked it and showed what we were all about.

“When they had the three sitting midfielders, we were outnumbered and it was giving them a lot of the ball.

Stevie Naismith speaking before the last qualifier with Georgia in Oct 2014

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“We just got in their faces a bit more in terms of closing them down all the way back to their goalie and that got us up the park.

“For long spells in the second period, we played in their half and frustrated them by keeping the ball.

“You just look at the two squads after the match and we are definitely more upbeat than the Irish players.”

Shaun Maloney’s deflected equaliser was the reason for that and Naismith believes that in the Chicago Fire player, Scotland have found a real game-changer.

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The former Rangers striker said: “Shaun is a massive player and a pleasure to play with. Now he is only getting his just rewards in terms of the national team. He has a very good routine which keeps him going and is a great player.

“Shaun improves your game by what he does and he has been crucial for us by having an impact in so many important games.

“He is someone who can pull something out the hat. To be fair we have a few players who have that in their locker in different ways.

“But Shaun has been the standout in this campaign with his goals and his play and his work for the team. He deserves a special mention.”

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Over whose head did Paul Gascoigne flick the ball before scoring against Scotland on this day in 1996?

15 Jun 1996: Paul Gascoigne of England celebrates scoring England's second goal in the England v Scotland match in Group A of the European Football Championships at Wembley. England beat Scotland 2-0. (Image: Getty)